ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Last month, local elections officials were sounding the alarm that new congressional maps would cost counties money and staff time.<\/p>\n
Those concerns are now coming true. On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a controversial new congressional map into law that gives Republicans an advantage in nearly all the state\u2019s seats.<\/p>\n
Many counties in the state remain in their previous districts under the new map.<\/p>\n
But for those in the areas that were significantly redrawn \u2014 around Orlando, Tampa and Miami \u2014 those changes will affect who voters see on their ballots and could change where they vote in person on election day.<\/p>\n
New costs<\/p>\n
In Orange County, Elections Supervisor Karen Castor Dentel is expecting the changes will cost her office nearly half a million dollars in extra spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t really part of our budget, and we have estimated that it will cost about $400,000 for the whole process between hiring a consulting firm to help us with the [geographic information system] maps, and then printing and mailing of the new voter information cards,\u201d said Castor Dentel. \u201cSo that\u2019s a really big cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her office has a roughly $21 million budget for this year\u2019s midterm elections. While a 2% increase in costs might sound small, she said, it could mean cuts to other election programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe may have to make some different decisions about how we spend the money, and we may have to go to the county commission and ask for an additional supplement to afford it,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
A weight on staff<\/p>\n
Supervisors of elections are responsible for interpreting, administrating and complying with the new congressional map.<\/p>\n
For election staff who already dedicate time to educating voters and countering misinformation, a new map will mean more questions and more opportunities for confusion and frustration, Osceola County Supervisor of Elections Mary Jane Arrington said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a lot of times people think redistricting is just taking a Sharpie and drawing some lines on a map, right? But we deal with people,\u201d said Arrington. \u201cI mean, we\u2019re talking about real people that have to be moved to their new location or to a different location, and so that is time consuming, staff-wise. And again, we didn\u2019t plan on that. We\u2019re already busy with verifying candidate petitions and getting ready for the primary election.\u201d<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s already a busy part of election season for staffers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to get ready for the midterm elections anyway,\u201d Castor Dentel explained. \u201cSo we\u2019re already on high alert, and we already have our staff working long hours, and we\u2019re already hiring seasonal staff just to get all of those different logistics in place for Election Day. And this is just added on top of that. It\u2019s confusing, and we do have to rework our workflow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Litigation limbo<\/p>\n
This week, three groups filed lawsuits alleging that the new map violates the Fair Districts Amendments of the state constitution. All are asking courts to block the new map and reinstate the previous one before the midterm elections.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s making it difficult for staff to decide how to proceed, Arrington said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do we do here?\u201d said Arrington. \u201cWe don\u2019t know, because of the challenges that have been filed, what the outcome is going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new map ignores the state\u2019s constitutional protections for minority voting districts and its ban on partisan gerrymandering, representatives from the Governor\u2019s Office testified in committee hearings last week.<\/p>\n
During the Legislature\u2019s special session on redistricting last Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in Louisiana v. Callais. The ruling significantly weakened a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that protected \u201cmajority-minority\u201d voting districts in federal, state and local elective office.<\/p>\n
The Governor\u2019s Office is arguing that the ruling invalidates all of the protections in the Fair Districts Amendments, not just those for minority districts, because all of the protections must be taken, or stricken, as one. DeSantis is confident the map will withstand the court challenges.<\/p>\n
If courts uphold the new map, staff will have fewer than 60 days to do what took months the last time the state adopted a new map in 2022, Arrington said.<\/p>\n
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